Multiple iTunes Libraries with same media folder

I have an iTunes library on a 2TB Time Capsule that I share with my family. However, only one person can load the library at the same time, and everyone has to see each other's playlists/ratings/etc. What I am trying to do is have 4 libraries (one for each person) that all access the same Media folder, so that whenever someone adds music/movies/apps/etc. anyone can access all of it. Is this possible?

To be honest with you I have only synced a device once, 5 years ago, but I thought you could sync individual playlists from a single library. In other words, make a playlist for each device.

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Multiple iTunes Libraries on same computer?

Hi,
My wife, daughter, and I all have ipods, each uses a different computer, my wife and I each use our laptops, and daughter uses the home desktop. Recently, the desktop has crashed and looks like we might need to re-format the drive (i.e. lose everything) and re-install Windows XP. She's got all her music on her iPod but unfortunately, no back up on a CD or DVD. Is there some way to re-create a new library for her from her iPod on to either of our laptops without causing conflicts with our existing iTunes libraries which are totally different. I.E. will the "sync" function work to recreate a library on a hard drive vs. going the other way around as usual.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Shift key in Windows when launching iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library.
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. The new library will be empty until you add content to it. To get back to your original library you need to close iTunes and open it again while holding down the shift key, this time choose to open an existing library and navigate to its location: Using multiple iTunes libraries -Windows
iTunes will only let you copy your purchases directly from an iPod to the computer, you'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
For everything else (music from CDs, other downloads and including iTunes purchases) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
A selection of iPod to iTunes utilities:
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
SharePod Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
YamiPod Mac and Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide

Multiple itunes libraries on same computer and removable hard drives

I have multiple itunes libraries, one resides on my internal hard drive on my computer and the other on a removable hard drive that I pug into the ocmputer via a USB cable, can itunes recognize both libraries at once, and how do I get it to do that?

That *****, apple should add a feature that allows multiple libraries.....hopefully they will in thenext release of iTunes.

2 user accounts, 2 itunes libraries, 1 shared media folder - external drive

Hi--
I've researched this to death, and have not found any answers.
So my wife and I each have individual
- Apple IDs
- user accounts on a shared mac
- itunes libraries (in our user/music folders)
We have one massive 500 GB media folder on a non-startup drive, that I'd like to be the source for the actual music in our respective itunes libraries. I've pointed the the "iTunes media location" (under Prefs > Advanced) at this folder repeatedly.
The media in that huge folder does not show up in my wife's itunes. It is too big to be moved to the startup drive to store in Users/Shared or Public.
I have tried alias and symlinking to no avail. I believe it may have to do with permissions and have downloaded Batchmod but am unclear what I should set the permissions on
Also I assume this has nothing to do with File Sharing?
Somebody out there must have gotten this to work...
Thanks for all advice!

Chris - again many thanks. I think I am 95% sure I'm understanding.
As you've laid it out below, if either one of us rips a CD in our individual accounts, the actual MP3s (or AACs) WILL be added to the giant itunes media library on the external.
HOWEVER, those newly ripped songs will ONLY appear in the account of the person who did the ripping. So the only workaround is to periodically "re-add" the entire giant media folder to each person's library? (assuming this won't create duplicates)
Chris CA wrote:
redzep wrote:
Chris, Thanks so much for your prompt and helpful reply. Just to clarify:
1) I need to "add to library" and select the entire 500 gb media folder
Yes.
Mkae sure iTunes prefs > Advanced - iTunes media folder location is pointed to the iTunes media folder on the external.
BUT make sure that
"Copy file to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" is UNCHECKED, right?\
This should be checked so when either of you adds antyhthong, it will get copied to the iTunes media folder on the external.
If the other adds something to their library by selecting something already in iTunes media folder, it will not get copied there again.
Then she should see the same music, be able to drag/drop to her iphone, make her own playlists etc. right?
Yes.
The iTunes library,itl file (tells iTunes where everything is, what the playlists are, ratings, etc.) is in the /Music/iTunes/ folder on your internal.
2) But if either one of us adds some music, it will not dynamically update in the other one's itunes? Does this apply to both music ripped from CD as well as itunes purchases (from our respective accounts?)
Correct. it will not update the other person's library.
This applies to everything.

Sync multiple iTunes libraries with iPod?

How do I sync several iTunes libraries (selectable by holding down ALT while starting iTunes) with my iPod Touch (4th generation)?
With limited hard drive space on my Powerbook I've chosen to create an iTunes library which more or less just contains podcasts and internet radio stations etc. and use an external drive for another library which contains all my music.
I was hoping I could switch between the different libraries and have my iPod sync to both of them, but alas I get a message when switching over to the "music" library that my iPod "belongs to" another library and that if I choose to use the current one everything will be erased and overwritten.
So how do I prevent this from happening while allowing me to add music from the second library?

I'm not sure if I've got it right but I've played around a bit after reading the above and come to the conclusion that I first need to check (turn on) the "Manually manage music and videos" (and most likely "Open Itunes when this iPod is connected") options in iTunes when I click on my iPod icon on the left column.
But much to my surprise I can still have iTunes automatically (or so it seems) sync my podcasts which makes things a whole lot easier than doing that manually for each podcast update!
For everything else (music, videos, PDF files/books/audiobooks, iTunes U, Ringtones etc.) I will need to manually drag and drop over to the iPod. To make things easier I created a playlist folder named "Manually transfer to iPod" with various playlists inside (just to make it easier to see what my iPod contains from that particular library and to organize things neatly).
And instead of dragging the items from each playlist over to the iPod I simply select the folder, then drag all the items on the right hand side (contents) over to the iPod.
I haven't tried switching libraries yet, but I assume I'll be able to add media from there as well without any problems.
Was this what you meant?

Choosing from multiple itunes libraries with ATV from same computer.

Hello to Apple universe. this question pertains to seeing and choosing from multiple librairies that i created through itunes on my one imac music server.
i created a second library on an attached external drive as my internal is almost full. I was wondering if there is a way to configure either itunes or ATV or both so that when I use ATV i am able to choose from which library to play from. i would appreciate steps to take or if this is an old topic, perhaps a referral link to the correct answer. Running Itunes v.10.6.3 on Imac running v.10.5.8 and ATV running v.6.2 Thanks for your time. John.

If you set up homesharing in iTunes on the Windows computer, using the same ID and password as used with your first library, then both libraries will show up under the computers heading on the Apple TV. When you navigate to the computers section you will be able to choose either library and hence any content from it.

Multiple iTunes Libraries with Window XP

Trying to create and use two libraries under one user. I have an existing 30G ipod video and wanted to make a new library for an ipod Touch under the same user. Was instructed to hold the shift key while opening Itunes and was able to "create new library". Now I cannot open my old library. When I again hold the shift key while opening Itunes there is an option to "choose library", but I can't actually get anything to open. Any help?

The default location of the iTunes .itl file (on XP) is given in the following document:
What are the iTunes Library files?
If you browse to that location when you get to the "Choose library" screen, are you able to open your old library?

Multiple iTunes Libraries - Each with a separate Media folder location

I have searched and learned that I can create more than one iTunes library file. I can do this so I can start to separate out my large music collection into more manageable chunks. I have learned that I can switch libraries by holding down the "shift" key while starting iTunes (I'm on Windows, so for me it's the shift key) and selecting or creating a new library. Life is good.
However, it seems that the "Media folder location" is the same for all libraries that I create. I want to have certain files and their associated library files on an external drive, and the rest of my library on my local drive. It doesn't let me do that. When I create a new library, and set it up on my "I" drive, and I change the "Media folder location" to also point to the "I" external drive, it works fine. I rip some music, and it's all good.
However, when I close iTunes and switch back to my original library which stores music on the "C" drive, the media folder location for that library has also been switched to the "I" drive. This is not good. The point of having separate libraries is to be able to manage my music. All of "these songs" go on the external drive, and the library files are also there, but all of "those songs" go on my internal drive, and the library should also be on the internal drive.
Am I missing something obvious, or does it just not work properly? Thanks.

I came across this thread and wanted to add my observations. I'm not experiencing the problem noted here. It works fine. Note that I've just updated to iTunes 10.5 today, but I haven't used my multiple libraries in a few months, so I don't know if my lack of a problem is because of this (or a prior) update to iTunes.
I use two libraries. One media folder is on my D:\ drive, and the other, for storing music in a lossless format, is on my external H:\ drive. The library files, however, are both on my C:\ drive. (C and D are partitions of the hard drive in my desktop PC.) The first library file is under My Documents\My Music\iTunes\ and the second one for my lossless music is at My Documents\My Music\iTunes Lossless Library\. (This works great because when I hold shift and open iTunes, the Open iTunes Library window appears, and I just navigate up one level, pick either the \iTunes or the \iTunes Lossless Library folder, and choose the library file therein.)
Tonight I copied the lossless media folder to a new, larger external drive. I then relabeled the old external drive as P: and labeled the new external drive as H:. I then deleted the lossless files from the old drive (now labeled P:). When I first opened my lossless library in iTunes, I could see all of my lossless files which are stored on the new drive (, i.e., the new H:). But when I went to Edit>Preferences>Advanced, the iTunes media folder location showed the D: drive media folder. Uh oh. Looking for help, I came and read this thread. Althought it left me expecting the worst, I just went ahead and changed the media folder location for my lossless music to the H: drive folder, closed iTunes, went back in, and the change stuck. I opened the other library, went back and forth a few times, and each shows its correct media folder location. So maybe this problem was fixed by Apple with an iTunes update, or maybe it's because I keep both libraries on my C: drive instead of on the separate drives where the files are located. I have no idea, but I just wanted to share my observations in case it helps someone else.

Problem with multiple iTunes libraries!

I've been using a program called PowerTunes that enables easily switching between libraries. I suspect that it may be the culprit of the multiple iTunes Libraries that I have. It's out of control! I've nested Previous iTunes Folders six layers deep!
In addition to this weirdness I've also got multiple plist files and temp files. It's a mess!
When I look at my backup iTunes folder it looks much cleaner. None of the nested folders (pictured above) or the temp files and multiple plist files. Can someone help me to understand this and restore my iTunes library to a normal state??
I've written the maker of PowerTunes but he's just one guy so who knows when I'll hear back from him. The more overt problems I am having include:
• losing ratings
• recently added items disappear
• when I switch libraries, iTunes wants to rebuild the genius library (every time!)
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm noticing that with iTunes 8, iTunes now doesn't keep separate preferences for multiple library locations, which is really crazy. I wonder if it's a bug or if there's a reason they did that. so when you hold option and launch itunes to get to your other iTunes library, this "other" iTunes library is now using the "old" iTunes library's file location. So if you add music to them, then they get all jumbled together and you don't know what's going where.
I'm thinking this is the cause of what's happening to you. When you "keep music organized" or whatever, who knows where iTunes is putting the stuff now. It's really bad. I'm hoping somebody has a solution, or any ideas.

I have files in my iTunes media folder that somehow are not in my library. How do I get iTunes to scan my media folder and add missing files to my library without making a copy of each file in the same location?

I have files in my iTunes media folder that somehow are not in my library. How do I get iTunes to scan my media folder and add missing files to my library without making a copy of each file in the same location? If I use add file / folder to library, it scans the folder and then makes a copy of any file that is not in my library in the exact same location; I recal in older versions of iTunes being able to just drag my media folder into my library and it would update missing links.

Only the songs that are connected to iTunes will be copied when you consolidate to a new folder.
Splitting the media folder away from the usual location makes it harder to move iTunes in the future.
Are you go move everything back once you've tidied up or are you going to leave it that way? Either way I'd recommend you create an iTunes folder at the new location, an iTunes Media folder inside that, and consolidate to this new iTunes Media folder. You should also use the option File > LIbrary > Organize Library > Rearrange files in the folder "<Media Folder"> if you have not already done so.
tt2

Have multiple iTunes libraries on one machine?

Hi,
I want to have multiple iTunes libraries on one machine (with two different hard drives, internal fore mp3s and external for AAC files). One library is composed of mp3s for an iPod, I want the other library to have AAC audio files for burning CDs. I would rather the libraries not be mixed.
I have read the article (#301748) for migrating an iTunes library and am preparing to migrate one of the libraries on to a external hard drive.
I have read about using Libra to maintain two different libraries on one machine. I was wondering if anyone does this and if they have encountered any problems? Is there a better solution?
Thank you,
TPK

It's one thing to want two music libraries on one machine and another to want two music libraries on one user account. For the latter, here's what I've done.
I created folders in my iTunes folder called, say, Main Library Folder and Second Library Folder. (These could be anywhere you find convenient.) I dragged my regular iTunes Library file into the Main Library Folder. Then I opened iTunes and created my second music library. When I finished that, I closed iTunes and dragged the just-created iTunes Library file into the Second Library Folder.
If I want to use my main iTunes library, before opening iTunes I drag an alias (Cmmd-Option-drag) of the iTunes Library file from the Main Library Folder into the iTunes folder. Then, when I open iTunes, iTunes reads my main library file. And of course, it works the same way for the second library.
Of course, you could just shuffle the actual library files into position in the iTunes folder from their holding areas, but I strongly preferred to get myself into the habit of relying on aliases, so I could leave the actual library file alone in their respective folders. You most definitely would not want to accidentally overwrite one of your iTunes Library files.
I'm sure one of the shareware products would do a more elegant job, but this just shows you that it's not a difficult process.
The alternative is to set up separate user accounts to access different libraries on the same machine. This has real benefits and, to me, should be the first option one considers. It's easier on the brain, as it sticks to iTunes' one-user-one-library model, and there's absolutely no risk of getting libraries confused. Fast User Switching on the Mac makes going back and forth between accounts easy. But if you really want to avoid using different accounts, and it's only you that has to keep things straight, the approach of jumping back and forth between different libraries in the same user account should be OK.

Multiple iTunes Libraries?

Is there anyway you can have multiple libraries (not playlists) for different iPods on the same computer? We don't want our music to mix...how can I fix this?

To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Shift key in Windows when launching iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library.
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. The new library will be empty until you add content to it. To get back to your original library you need to close iTunes and open it again while holding down the shift key, this time choose to open an existing library and navigate to its location. Multiple libraries can prove tricky when using multiple iPods, if you don't use the keyboard command you can risk syncing to the wrong library: Using multiple iTunes libraries -Windows
Another option is to create a separate Windows account for each person on your PC. Different user accounts by definition would give you completely separate libraries. Each account has it's own iTunes folder, Library and iTunes Music folder and you load it with CDs etc just as you did with your original one. The iPod can be set to update however the owner chooses, sync all, manual or sync specific playlists.
Apart from these methods there are several other ways to use two or more iPods with one computer, have a look at this help page for all the suggestions and choose the method that suits you best: How to use multiple iPods with one computer

Repair itunes library (damaged) file. Multiple iTunes libraries on an external harddrive. All libraries have been working fine. Do some "housecleaning" on a one of the large libraries 296GB. iTunes quit and now has damaged file. 296 GB still on HD.

How to repair itunes library (damaged) file. Multiple iTunes libraries on an external harddrive. All libraries have been working fine. Do some "housecleaning" on a one of the large libraries 296GB. iTunes quits and now has damaged file. 296 GB still on HD.

The duplication is unnecessary. Exporting creates a duplicate of the file. So now you'll have a duplicate of a duplicate. Exporting is not "working on" a file.
No it's not merging, it's exporting from one to the Finder and into another. No matter what lose something. If you export the Original you leave behind all the work you've done in iPhoto. If you export anything else, you lose the non-destructive editing and the ability to revert to the original. With merging you preserve that work. Yes, you can trash the old Library when you have completed the manoevre but no it's not the same thing as merging.
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue. But in brief:
Current gets you the iPhoto Preview, used for sharing via media browsers. It's a jpg, medium quality missing metadata. Original gets the file you imported, unchanged and then you can export different version of the current version at different qualities. If you choose to export anything except the Original you do not get a Raw. There's no such thing as an "edited Raw", and you lose the connection between the original and the exported version. That means you've taken a non-destructive workflow and turned it into a destructive one.
The Tiff will certainly be higher qulaity and less likely to suffer generational loss in future editing but the file sizes are vast, often more than 10 times the size of the jpeg.
Put it this way, it would be cheaper to buy Library Manager than the disk you'll need to contain all the Tiffs. Unless you plan on a lot of editing, I'd go for a high quality jpeg as a reasonable compromise.
To be clear:
So, I guess my new question is, how can I edit the Raw image and keep it in a RAW format that IPhoto recognizes so that I can reprocess without any loss at a future time, or is it that once you edit a RAW image, then it is no longer a RAW image?
Once you edit a Raw it can no longer be a Raw. End of.

Can you avoid multiple clips of the same media in a project

We have 2 suites and we sometimes work together on a common project utilising the same media.
If I want to use a sequence from the other suite I can easily import it.
The problem: it creates another folder with clips that only belong to the imported sequence.
The end result after a few imported sequences is that my final timeline has instances in it that
are from clips belonging to several different folders or bins even though the media is the same.
In summary... is there a way you can avoid having multiple clips of the same media in a project.
Makes for a very messy project when you have finished.
You've got multiple clips with the same name scattered everywhere.
Cheers

Not yet.
I'm kind of hoping this type of media management will be vastly improved in CS6, whose main new 'feature' reeeeeally needs to be outstanding network collaboration with other editors working on the same project.

Finding and combining multiple itunes libraries

I believe I have set up multiple itunes libraries that are located on different drives (the internal and an external). I'd like to find them and combine them into one place. Any help would be appreciated..
macbook running OS X 10.9.4

The .itl is simply a listing of what tracks you have selected for that library. It does not include the music itself. I have never imported another library so I don't know if the methods Niel outlines will actually move your music files into the same library folder or simply use them where they are. You can easily check by seeing if they have moved to the folder, or by get info on a track in iTunes and look at the information on where the actual file it uses is located.
Read the links below on what actually makes up a complete library and why combining them involves merging multiple items.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

Multiple iTunes Libraries with same media folder

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